Cosmetic applicator case and replaceable cartridge therefor



INVENTOR. (Bed/v0 a ASTON B. D. ASTON Filed Oct. 23, 1965 COSMETICAPPLICATOR CASE AND REPLACEABLE CARTRIDGE THEREFOR Sept. 23, 1969 Q Q mQ N Q T T w\ m? 5.: w J my m w Ba MQ Q m I v V l v. Q Q m c N Q Q RN 1%MINNQ A770Q/Vf) United States Patent US. Cl. 401-188 9 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A cosmetic applicator in which a replaceable cartridgeis contained within an outer casing having a nose section at one endcontaining an applicator element, the cartridge being mountable withinthe casing and having a reservoir for the cosmetic, and having a pistonactuatable to discharge a predetermined amount of the cosmetic each timeit is actuated, the piston having a screw stem formed with a head endslidably engaged by a rotatable actuator body having a manuallyengageable end part projecting from an end of the case, and means beingprovided on the case and actuating body for indicating the movementrequired for discharging a predetermined amount of the cosmetic.

The present invention relates to applicator devices and moreparticularly to a device useful to apply fluent cosmetic materials andthe like.

Various refill cartridge-type cosmetic applicators have heretofore beenprovided whereby an outer case which is adapted to be carried in awomans purse has means for removably supporting and containing acartridge having therein various cosmetic materials, such as mascara,lip rouge and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide such a device whereinthe applicator means, namely, a brush, lining device or other typicalapplicator element carried by a portion of the case and wherein areplaceable cartridge is adapted to be disposed in the case and uponbeing engaged in a support for an end of the cartridge, the cartridge isopened to allow the flow of cosmetic material therefrom into theapplicator element.

Another obect is to provide a cosmetic applicator wherein a replaceablecartridge is provided with a thin diaphragm or membrane sealing thecosmetic material within the cartridge and wherein the case or portionthereof adapted to receive the end of the cartridge is provided withmeans which will pierce the diaphragm and provide a flow passage fromthe cartridge reservoir into the applicator element.

Another object is to provide a cartridge for use with a case wherein thecartridge contains a reservoir of the fluent material, the cartridgealso having a follower or piston within the reservoir acting topressurize the fluent material to cause the same to be displaced fromthe reservoir into the brush, and wherein actuation of the cartridge iseffected by a member carried by the case and cooperating with a followeroperator which is constituted by a portion of the cartridge.

By virtue of the construction of a cosmetic applicator in accordancewith the preceding objective, it will be appreciated that a cartridgehaving a minimum number of parts is provided, the actuatinginstrumentalities being in part carried by the case and in part includedin the cartridge.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafterdescribed or will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and thenovel features of the invention will be defined in the appended claims.

'In the accompanying drawings:

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FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through an apphcator assemblyincluding a replaceable cartridge made in accordance with thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded detail view With certain of the parts being shownin elevation and partially broken away, and illustrating the variouscomponents of the assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view as taken on line 33 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view as taken on the line 4-4 of FIG.1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary detail view partly in elevation and partlybroken away and illustrating on an enlarged scale the actuator end ofthe case construction; and

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view as taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5.

Like reference characters in the several views of the drawing and in thefollowing description designate corresponding parts.

The assembly generally comprises an outer elongate hollow case 1, a nosesection 2, a closure cap 3, the nose having an applicator element 4 andthere being within the nose 2 one end of an elongate cartridge body 5,the other end of said body being disposed within the case 1.

The nose 2 has a body 6 threaded at one end as at 7 to receive acomplementally threaded bushing 8. In addition, the body 6 is providedwith a suitable O-ring or similar seal 9 so as to assist in thefrictional holding thereon of the closure cap 3, while at the same timesealing the closure cap to prevent desecration of the fluent materialcontained in the applicator 4. Within the body 6 the nose is bored as at10 and counterbored at 11; while externally of the nose body it has atapered extension 12 terminating in a generally conical end 13 having anopening 14 therethrough.

Mounted within the opening 14 and projecting outwardly therefrom is theapplicator element 4, which as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, may be in theform of a porous pointed body retained within a bushing 15 having aninner flange 16 abutting within the bore 10 against a shoulder 17 toprevent outward passage of the applicator element 4. Within theapplicator element 4 is an elongated tubular member 18 constituting aconduit for the conduction of fluent material to the applicator element,this member 18 having an end 19 sharpened as by cutting the member at anangle, and this sharpened end constituting piercing means for opening acartridge as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The cartridge body 5 has an elongated cylindrical section 20 mergingwith a reduced diameter cylindrical section 21 adapted to fit within thecounterbore 11 of the nose 2, there being at this end of the body 5 afurther reduced diameter cylindrical section 22 adapted to fit withinthe bore 10 of the nose 2.

At the other end of the cartridge body 5 it is provided with a lug 23suitably mounted within the enlarged section 20 and having a marginalhead 24 engaging in a complemental groove in the tubular body so as toretain the plug in place. This plug is preferably composed of suitableplastic material so that it may be press fitted into the body.

Threadedly engaged within a threaded opening 25 in plug 23 is anelongate threaded actuator stem 26. Within the cartridge body 5 the stem26 has engagement with a follower or piston 27 in the form of a cuphaving sealing engagement with the cylindrical inner wall of the bodysection 20. It will of course be understood that threaded movement ofthe stem 26 to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, will cause the cup 27 toapply pressure to the fluent material within the cartridge. However,until the cartridge has been assembled with the nose piece 2, the fluentmaterial will be trapped within the cartridge.

It will be noted in this connection that the reduced cylindrical end 22of the cartridge is provided with an end opening 29 centrally locatedwithin an end flange 30 and within the reduced section 22 there isprovided a suitable membrane 31 which in the illustrative embodiment isconstituted by the end wall of a plastic cup 32. Therefore uponassemblage of the cartridge with the nose piece it will be noted thatthe bevelled end 19 with the piercing member 18 will penetrate themember 29, thereby opening end reservoir to passage of the fluentmaterial therein through the member 18 and into the porous applicatortip 14.

Means are provided whereby the cup 27 may be moved to the leftresponsive to threaded movement of the stem 26 so as to cause thepressurizing of the fluent material into the applicator tip 14. Suchmeans comprises a revolvable actuator body 33, having a reduced endpiece 34 which projects through a marginal end flange 35 of the case 1so as to be manually engaged and caused to rotate. Extended axiallywithin the actuator 33 is a non-circular Opening 36 which, in theillustrative embodiment, is hexagonal in cross section. On the free endof the actuator stem 26 is a correspondingly non-circular head 37, whichin the illustrative embodiment is hexagonal in form. It will now beobserved that manual rotation of the actuator end piece 34 will causerotation of the threaded stem 26 with consequential movement of the stemto the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, so that pressure will be applied tothe fluent material in the reservoir.

In order to restrain the cartridge against rotation along with the stem26, it is preferred that the cartridge tightly fit within the nose piece2, and in addition in the illustrative embodiment there is shown meanswhereby the cartridge and the nose piece are positively interlockedtogether to prevent relative rotation. As best seen in FIG. 3, suchmeans comprises a longitudinally extended key section 21a formed in onewall of the reduced cylindrical section 21 of the cartridge 5. The nosepiece 2 in the bore 11 is provided with a longitudinally extended keyway20 with which the key 21a fits.

The case 1 carries within the end thereof remote from the actuator endpiece 34 the previously described bushing 8 which is engaged withthreads 7 on the nose piece 2, and when the case 1 and bushing 8 aretightly threaded on the body 6 into engagement with a flange 6a thereon,the case 1 and the cartridge will be substantially held in non-rotativerelation so that the case may be held in one hand while the operatingend piece 34 is revolved to inject the fluent material into theapplicator end 4.

Means .are provided for assisting in the injection of known quantitiesof the fluent material into the applicator 4, and as best seen in FIGS.5 and 6, such means is illustrated as including a detent element 33aformed on the end of the actuator body 33 adjacent its juncture with theend piece 34. In addition, the end flange 35 of the casing 1 at aplurality of angularly spaced locations is provided with recesses 35a inwhich the detent 33a will progressively engage. Thus the actuating endpiece 34 may be revolved in increments and engagement of the successiverecesses 35a by detent 33a will indicate to the user an increment ofrotation, such increment of rotation being that necessary to replenishthe supply of fluent material in the applicator 4.

Also to assist in the visual indication of increments of rotation of theend piece 34, the case 1 adjacent the end flange 35 may be provided witha mark as indicated at 3512, which mark is aligned with one of therecesses 35a. In addition, the end piece 34- is provided with angularlyspaced marks 35c spaced at angles corresponding to the spacing of therecesses 35a so that angular movement of the end piece 34 such as wouldmove the end piece the distance between two adjacent marks 35c would bevisually indicative of the displacement of a known volume of the fluentmaterial from the reservoir into the applicator From the foregoing itwill now be understood that the present invention provides a very simplecosmetic applicator case and replaceable cartridge therefor, wherein thecartridge and the case cooperate to enable the displacement from thecartridge reservoir of known quantities of the fluent cosmetic material,and wherein the cartridge itself is a very simple, easy to manufacture,construction which may be sold at a reasonable price as a refill oncethe original cartridge has been depleted of cosmetic. Moreover, it willbe noted that certain of the structure, namely the actuator 33 and itsend piece 34 employed in operation of the cartridge remain as a part ofthe case and need not be furnished as a part of the cartridge, but willcooperate with the refill cartridge upon installation of such a newcartridge.

While specific details of the invetnion have been herein shown anddescribed, it should be understood that changes and alterations may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cosmetic fluent material applicator comprising: an elongatedassemblage of a nose and a case removably carried by said nose,applicator means projecting from said nose, a cartridge having one endremovably engaged in said nose and the other end extending into saidcase, said cartridge having a reservoir of said fluent material, meansat said one end of said cartridge for establishing communication betweensaid applicator means and said reservoir, piston means in said reservoirfor displacing said fluent material, an actuator stem having one endengaged with said piston and having its other end disposed in said case,and means for actuating said stem including coengaged separable members,one of said members comprising a head on said stem and the othercomprising a member in said case having a body coengaged with said head,said body having an end part projecting from an end of said case foroperation to effect actuation of said actuator means.

2. A cosmetic applicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said coengagedbody and head are slidably interengaged and have a non-circularconfiguration, and including means carried by said cartridge andthreadedly engaging said stem to cause longitudinal movement of saidstem upon rotation of said members.

3. A cosmetic applicator as defined in claim 2, wherein said end of saidcase and said body have cooperable means indicative of increments ofrotation of said members.

4. A cosmetic applicator as defined in claim 3, wherein said cooperablemeans comprise markings on said end of said case and said projecting endpart indicative of increments of rotation of said members.

5. A cosmetic applicator as defined in claim 3, wherein said cooperablemeans comprise detent and recess means.

-6. A cosmetic applicator as defined in claim 5, wherein said end ofsaid case has an end flange extended about said projecting end part, andsaid detent and recess means comprise angularly spaced recesses on saidend flange and a detent on said body progressively engageable in saidrecesses upon said rotation of said members.

7. A refill cartridge for a cosmetic fluent material applicator having arotatable part, comprising: .an elongated body having a reservoir forsaid fluent material, a piston at one end of said reservoir, a threadedstem engaged with said piston at one end of said stem, threaded means onsaid body for causing axial movement of said stem upon rotation thereof,and an actuator member at the other end of said stern providing meansengageable by said rotatable part of said case upon assembly therewith.

8. A refill cartridge as defined in claim 7, wherein said actuatormember is a non-circular head.

9. A refill cartridge as defined in claim 7, wherein said body isprovided with a non-circular part engageable in said case to preventrotati n of said cartirdge in said FOREIGN PATENTS case" 1,249,25911/1960 France.

References Cited F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner 3,002,517 10/1961 Pitton. U.S. C1.X.R.

3,256,980 6/1966 Bau 132-33] X 132-881; 401-198

